Daily Devotional

We recently celebrated baptism in both our services as a number of young women baptized before the congregation. It’s such a special time as we hear their testimonies of what God has done in their lives to turn them toward following Him as they profess their faith before the church. You see that is what baptism is all about, a public profession of faith before many, declaring to the world that I am a child of God!

In Matthew, John the Baptist is speaking of baptising people in the wilderness as an act of repentance but declares that he is but a forerunner to one who is greater than he, that will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. In fact John will baptize Jesus at which time God will affirm that Jesus is His beloved Son in which He is well pleased.

Baptism doesn’t save us, it’s a symbol of us dying to sin and being raised with Christ in His saving death and resurrection. Romans 10:9 says that if we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. Baptism is simply an outward profession of your faith, you are declaring before men that you believe Jesus is Lord and that you want to follow Him all of the days of your life. It’s not required to be saved but it is something we are commanded to do. If we have found faith in Jesus, the great commission commands us to declare our faith to others. In fact the primary command in the great commission is to go and make disciples and baptize them.

Baptism is a celebration of what God has done in someone’s life and a chance for them to declare to the world that Jesus is Lord. So if you are a follower of Christ, you should consider getting baptized as a form of obedience to God, not because your salvation depends on it, but because you love God and want to declare your faith before men!

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.